The town of Ortega de Balson in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste had to give up a tradition that they’ve had for at least 200 years, “la lagarteada”.

La Lagarteada consists on a group of people jumping into a croc infested river capturing a live crocodile, preferably the largest in the area, (which locals refer to as lagarto/alligator), and taking it to the local plaza where the animal is exhibited for a day in a cage created for this purpose; the animal is liberated the following day in the same place it was caught.
The decision to ban this activity which usually takes place during the Holy Week, was taken by the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC) and according to Henry Ramirez, director of sustainable use of biodiversity of SINAC, it is a definitive decision due to the fact that it is considered as animal cruelty.

Last year, the activity was the center of a lot of controversy because the animal captured, a female 3.7 meters long, died several hours after it had been captured; authorities considered that the death could have been caused by stress.

The news was not taken lightly by the community, which considers this an important tradition.

Authorities from SINAC and the Association for Animal Wellness have offered proposals to replace this activity with options of rural tourism that could generate income for the community.

According to the Ministry of Culture of Costa Rica, it is believed activity started upon the arrival of Spanish conquerors to the country, when indigenous people of the Chorotega tribe were the main inhabitants of the area. This tribe considered crocodiles as a magical animal with special powers. It is also thought that the capture of the animal on Good Friday symbolized the acceptance of the tribe of the religious traditions being imposed by the Spanish conquerors, capturing a sacred animal on this day was symbolic with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it is said IN THE PAST the animal was killed on Sunday using its meat for human consumption, its fat for medicinal purposes and its skin to create different articles.